Multicolor-moving-picture machine.



B. A. BRIGDEN.

MULTICOLOR MOVING PICTURE MACHINE.

mwucmon mm AUG- I, 1913.

1,143,608. Patented June 22, 1915.

5 SHEETSSHEET I.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-M1913.

5 1 9. 112 ,T 2H 2 4 6 Hm I; J d 65 t H Pu t a P IIIIIIII B. A. BRIGDEN.

MULTICOLOR MOVING PICTURE MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG.l,19I3.

1,143,608; Patented June 22, 1915.

5 SHEETSSHEET 3- 35 3' 34- 5] wvemtoz Bun/1 7. (6.5

Patented June 22, 1915.

5 SHEETSSHEET 4.

In} =n=\ m m B. A. BRIGDEN.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 1, I913- MULTICOLOR MOVING PICTURE MACHINE.

B. A. BRIGDEN.

MULTICOLOR MOVING PICTURE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.I,19I3- Patented June 22, 1915.

Qwi/tweooeo 20 nating obscuration, and the production of BURT A. BBIGDEN', OF EAST CLEVELAND, OHIO.

cameras.

MULTICOLOBFHOVIN G-PICTUB E MACHINE.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

- IfatentedJune22,1915.-

'i 'ae' filed August 1, 1915. Serial-1T0. 782,457.

This invention relates to multi-color moving picture machines. It is illustrated in connection with a projecting machine, but recording machines or single ring disclosed in the former application.

Various other improvements. will be apparent from the following description and is applicable to.

The invention is an improvement onthe machine described and claimed-in my pend- .ing application No. 721250, filed Se t. 19,

1912, the object of the present invention being to produce a machine particularly adapted for multi-color work, and characterized by an absence of flicker by elimiall colors at all times. In ordinary multicolor machines the colors are produced by the rapid successive projection of the image through colored screens. In the machine the image is exhibited through different colored screens at the same time, in

consequence of which there is an absence of the dliferent colored stripes or color flicker seen especially on rapid moving ob ects. In

. the former. application, a continuously'moving film is employed with a .ring or succession of radial objectives traveling in the same direction as the film across. the exposure opening, a succeeding objective bemg brought into operation before the pro-- ceding objective ceases to operate. In this improved. machine I use a plurality of rings or tiers of radial objectives and a plurality of screens located at the exposure openin through which the image is projected 1n di ferent colors-accordin ly, at the same time,

the various screens. Each tier of lenses in projecting throws the image, wh1le"passing the exposure opening, through a color screenf(G,'B .or R Figur'e'9) andas any three lenses in line vertically are, covering 1 the same part of the field at the same time,

they produce complete color by a blendcitgg or superposition of the images pro e 7 through i'the different color screens, colors which the fol-;.-

present the same. In the drawings are shown a three color screen and behind it three rings of objectives are provided, instead of the the drawings will illustrate one embodiment of the invention.

As disclosed in'the former application thefilm moves with the image of the field and at a faster speed than the lenses, so that successive portions of the film are ex posed, producing a complete record, some-.

what similar to the action of some types of panoramic cameras, the film being made up of a series of small pictures produced by the successive action of a succession of objectives. I

In the drawings.Fig.. 1 is a top plan view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a top view, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of sliding guide frame shown in Fig. 2.

Fig.4is a vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of part of the. film feeding devices, particularly shown in Fig.4. Fig. 6 is a detail in section on the line 6 6 o'f Fig. 1; F ig..7

is a detail in, section on the line 77of Fig.

1 Fig. 8 is a top plan of a starting and :stopping lever, shown in Fig. 4, and forming part ofthe film' feedingv devices, Fig. 91s a front elevation of machine partly in Section. Fig. l0 is a'section on 'line 10 10 of Fig. 9. ;Figs.' 11 and 12 are diagrams ill strating the field and the lens action. F 1g. 13v is-a'n elevation showing the expoinre slits or openings in the lens carrier. 14 1s a planor diagram of part of the film showing the progress of the expos'ure.

Referring specifically t0 e drawing indicates successlvelenses or objectives ar:

ranged in three rows or,rings, one directly parallel.

' above the other, with the axes of the lenses.v

11 is the condensing lens behind which is of light 12 when used' for pro-- a source ectmg. v v I 3 1s an annular lens carrlerrwhlch runs on ball bearings on a base 4 forming part' of an annular casing which includes an outer wall 1 and an inner w'all2 and a .further inner wall 2 which forms a central well for the source of light and a chamber between the walls 2 and 2 for the its feeding mechanism.

8 are division Walls in the lens carrier between the respective tiers and series of film. and

. lenses, and 9 are exposure slots corresponding to the axes of the lenses (see Figs. 2'

and 13). r

The lens carrier runs in contact with guide rollers 1, and the lens carrier is provided with an internal gear C, being driven by a gear P on a power shaft P driven by any suitable motor, giving movement to the lens carrier in the casing. The respective tiers of lenses 7 are located behind screens 54,

marked G, B, R, representing cdlors which produce white light when combined. These color screens are mounted in a frame 53 which is removable from the casing, permitting an operator with a variety of combinations to use his judgment as to the proper combination for any given subject.

The film F will be supplied from suitable reels (not-shown) to the film chamber between the casing walls 2 and 2, and passes lar movement of the lenses, so that the new portions of the film will constantly come into position for exposure and will follow the figure of the field that it first picks up until it has passed outside of the limited scope of the lens, viz: the rays admitted through the slots 9.

The lens carrier is comparatively heavy 'and therefore not quickly started or stopped,

consequently means are provided; to quickly start and stop the film while the carrier is in motion.

Referring particularly to 4, 17' is a chamber containing the transmission gearing of thefilm feeding device. .On the power shaft P is a beveled gear 18 driving gear 18, shaft 19 and a friction disk 20.

Gear S is mounted one. sliding shaft 22' which is squared where it passes through the gear. This shaft is mounted in-bearings 26 and 28 so that it can be raised and lowered. Th ese bearings :are respectively mounted on plates 24 and 24' which are slidable in the gear chamber toward and away from the power shaft P, and the 5 plates are operated; by cams 25 on a shaft Cas shown in Figs. 4 and 5. On the lower end of shaft 22 is fixed a friction disk 21 which by movement of the shaft may be thrown in or out of contact with the disk '20 and also moved across the face of said disk to vary the speed. The operating' lever 33 is pivoted at 34, between flanges 34, to a the upper end of the shaft C, and by turning the lever in a horizontal plane the camsv are operated to .shift the shaft 22 laterally and thereby bring the disk .21 in orout of -contact withthe disk 20. The pivotalcon nection at 34 permits the lever 33 to be I raised or lowered. The end 33 of this lever is inclined and fan shaped and engages under a flange 35 ion the shaft 22, whereby said shaft may be raised or lowered. To start the film slowly, the fan shaped end of the lever. 33 is' depressed, and the lever can x be turned in the notch 36 which turns the" cams and brings the disk 21"against the disk 20 near the axis thereof. This starts the '.'film-feeding gear slowly. When turned to full extent the lever strikes a stop 37 with the notch 36' under the projection 36, which permits the fan shaped end of the lever to be raised thereby lifting the shaft 22 asshown inFi 4 until the disk 21 is near the periphery o the disk 20, thereby increasing from slow to full speed. '33 can now-pass 37 and thegear S can'bemoved to meshexact relative movement of With P, giving film with carrier. The sprocket shaft swinging frame 15 which is pivoted on the shafts lfiand 16 of the guide roller R and the, gear S3 respectively, and this frame may be'turned by a "handle 15, to permit of threading the film on the sprocket in any position and at the same time properly reg- S is carried by a ister the relative positionsof the film and L lensesso that the picture maybe properly placed of framed on a screen.- By operating'the.handle15""the feeding sprocket is swung one way or the other for this purpose.

This adjustment'is desirable in projecting,

butis not necessary when the machine is used as a camera.

At theexposure opening the film' passes over small belts .60 and 60, Figs, 1 and 9, fiat on the side next to the film, and these passover rollers '61 and 617 and travel with the motion of the film, saving wear of the latter on the upper and lower plates 5 and 6. a

61 is a pulley wheel which may be driven by a cord belt to asimilar pulley S on the lower end of the shaft of the gear 8", to

drive the rollers 61 and 61. and the belts 60 and 60'. The shafts of,these-rollers turn in bearings in upper andlower plates 5 and 6?, connected by plates and 63 which have easy threading of the film in loading the machine, and when used for projecting, perdisclosed in the above entitled application.

' exposure opening, cutting off the ends of Initting an'adjustment to compensate for any shrinkage or contracting of film caused,

in developing'and reproduction. The sliding movement of-the frame comprisin the plates 5' and 6 and the connectingwa 63 and 63 may beefiected as shown or by any suitable device.

chine is opened by swinging these rollers outside of the flanges of the rollers R and R so that the film maybe easily removed or dropped in place.

66 and 66 are cams on the'shaft 67, and 68 is a lever which turns the shaft and the cams and produces the forward or backward movement of the sliding frame above referred to.

The shutter mechanism is similar. to that The shutters 51 and 51"may have an outline corresponding to that fully "described. in said application. They are mounted on shafts 50 and 50' which are driven from the carrier gear vC by means of gear 40, shaft 41, gears 42 and 42, shaft 43, gear 44, gears 45 and 45, shafts 46 and 46' and gears 48 and .48 meshing with'gears 49 and 49 igs. 9 and 10) on the shutter shafts 50 and 530'. These shutters are used to cause the picture to start and end abruptly without loss of space, and they could be omitted with a slight vignetting at each end of each picture. As. stated in theformercase they cause a slot to progressively travel across the exposure opening as they revolve.

The image is produced through the slots 9 in the lens carrier, in three tiers, as shown in ,Fig. '13, corresponding to the tiers of lenses and the color screens through which said tiers are respectively; exposed, and the travel of the film and the'lensesproduces a succession of built up pictures as the lenses travel acrossthe field, each lens gradually picking up all parts of the imageorpicture so that a succession of smallpictures is r.'0-. duced, each having a lengthcorrespon 'ng to the beginning and ending of the faction of each. lens, passing the exposure open ng.

As shown in Fig. 9, there are fifteen lenses operative at the same time, three tiers, each containing five lenses, those-in line vertically different colored screens. The radial lenses of eae tier 'are operatin onv separate ad.-

joining sections oftbe fiel (as illustrated in s the.

1 i Fig. iayli iaa by the slots 9- (Fig. in

through the same color screens (G, B or B, 1 Fig. 9) to collectively secure records which by projection the field.

different positions While passing the exproduce. a; complete of? If the axis of a lens were parallellin its but inasmuch as the lenses are radial as. shown" in Fig..12,i-t records adifierent partof the field, constantly changing as it crosses the film, move in exact unison itwill prothe exposure opening and if the image of a the field (formed by the moving lens), and

and 65 are levers carrying guide rollers R and R and they operate when the ma duce a sharp, clear record; toexplain, the

lenses at the right at the instant shown in- Fig. 12, will record the arrowhead section ofthe field, shown in plan in Fig. 11 (field' I being shown in section in Fi-g- 12) and the imagejwill appear asshown at the right in Fig. 14+the arrow head onl These lenses (three in...vertical alinement as they move with a continuous and uniform motion across the exposure opening bring new detail in line with the optical axes and the image moves uniformly to the left relatively to the axes of the lenses and to their slots, and a-t the instant of passing the-second position shown in Fig..12, the section containing the letters A, T, is the only part of the fieldpassing the slots (shownin Fig. 13). of these lenses and being recordedonthe film, but the section containing the arrowhead has. already been recordedby these lenses and at this instant is bein recorded again by thesucceeding lenses. e image'moves faster than the slot because of the angular move.-

ment of the radial-lenses, and. thefilm must have-exactly the same movement as the image.- After it passes the slot, the exposed film is protected by. the opaque walls between the slots, until itpasses the exposure opelning to a suitable light tight receiving If one lens without a slot should record the field in Fig. 11, it would show an image five blocks long, but if five lenses collectively are to produce this record, each lens must secure, or record, only one fifth or one sition, has come up. to the completed exposure of the record preceding it, at the in- The protected .part' of the film which is section andv must do this at the same in-' stant, and the slot must be sized to permitv .stant thatthe' shutter stops the light from i aduall passes under "of the field. When lensihas moved to theflens which hasqprodu'ced it, and which has finished its trapsit across-the exposure 120.

the lenses.

v as

thet'next position shown, the film will have moved so much faster that its first section (containing the arrow head) is then behind the opaque wall at the left of-the slot behind said lens. When the lens reaches third position, the first and second sections'of the film will then be behind the wall; when it reaches fourth position (field containing CS) the first, second and third sections of the film will be behind the wall; and when it'reaches fifth position (to record the tail of the arrow) the'preceding fourth section of the film will have passed to the left beyond the range of the exposure opening in the casing. No blur of the record occurs during its uniform and continuous movement in passing the diflerentpositions shown, because, as stated, the filmtravels at,

the same speed, or apparent speed, as the image, incident to the angular movement of edges of Which are in the form of a spiral curve beginning and ending on the same meridian, and the edge on this meridian ofeach blade forms an inset or oflset equal to the radial spacing of the lenses. One shutter blade revolves at such speed that the increasing radiusato' its outer edge follows the'movement of the lenses in the rotary carrier. When its greatest radius passes the exposure opening the inset or step causes the following lenses to be uncovered and again the increasing radius follows in the same manner each succeeding color combination of three lenses. Theopposite shutter blade revolves in such manner that the radius constantly decreases and its outer edge recedes as lenses approach until the step or oifset covers a combination of lenses and again recedes to its smallest "radius followed by the next combination which is covered, and this operation continues while the lens carrier is 1n motion. Y

The shutters revolve once during the movement of lenses from one position to that occupied by the preceding lenses, or

about eight tiines per second.

ecords made with'the shutter in operat1on Wlll show complete clear detail to'the edges and can be projected without a shut ter. If records are made 'without a shutter and no more space between the slots is arranged for (as by setting lenses in a carrier of large circumference) each record will overlap the ones adjoining it. If the lenses of the same angular scopeshould be set in a carrier of larger diameter and spaced the same degrees apart then there will be more space between, the slots and no injury to ad-' joining records, but more film would be used for the same result, causing waste.

The'slight parallax incident tothe different vertical positions of thetiers of lensesmay be disregarded as it is far within the The shutter blades 51 and 51 in Fig. 9 are thin opaque plates, the outer parallax permissible without producing blur in the image. v

a In projecting, every part of the field is shown in the true color at each instant, as each row of lenses is producing or reproducing through its screen continuously, and

I the pictureis built up of the different colored views projecting through the appropriate screen and-parts of the film by the corresponding tiers of lenses.

Changes may be made in mechanical structure, and also in the number of tiers of lenses, within the scope of the invention.

As will be seen from Fig. 14 the film F contains'rows G, B and R of pictures having appropriate color values corresponding to the screens, and with the advantage that all color values are represented on the same film,'and consequently registration is absolute- What I claim as new is:

1. In a moving picture apparatus, the combination of a traveling film, means for advancing the film and means to record a field in different color representations'on different partsofsaid film, said means including difi'erent color screens located oppo site different parts of said film at the ex posure opening, and a series of rows of travcling objectives movable across the exposure opening, each row corresponding in posi' I tion to one of the color screens and means for moving the objectives.

2. In a moving picture apparatus, the combination of a rotary carrier having rows of slots, a series of rows of lenses carried by said carrier and corresponding to the slots in position, means for rotating the cargier, a color screen corresponding to each row of lenses, and means for supporting and advancing a traveling picture strip in position for exposure through. said lenses and slots.successively.' i I 3. In a moving picture apparatus, the combination of a rotary carrier, means for rotating the carrier, a succession of objectivesarranged in different rows thereon and in the same number and relative position in the respective rows, the carrier having ex posure slots corresponding to theobjectives in position, different color screens through iction' driving disk, and means'to' 7 5. In a moving picture apparatus, means direction to shift the frame and in another direction to shift the shaft, a driving shaft and friction gears. operatively connecting the driving shaft and the shiftable shaft one of which gears is carried by the shiftable shaft and is movable therewith, for the pur- ,poses stated and the other of which is carried by the driving shaft.

In testimony whereof, I do afiix my signature inpresen'ce of two witnesses.

I BURT A. BRIGDEN.

' Witnesses:

JOHN A. BOMMHARDT, J. B. DAVIS. 

